Getting Dirty

Something has been bothering me. And I'm not sure what to do about it, because I'm part of the problem.

There are too many saved people in church on Sunday. I get up in front of the church every Sunday morning and look out over the congregation and I've been thinking....wow, we have so many amazing people here....and, I get warm, fuzzy feelings as I look over the crowd and see my church family worshipping together. It really is wonderful. But, lately, I've begun to realize that something is bothering me about the whole picture.....I wasn't sure what it was at first, but then I started to notice. Where are the lost people? The ones who do not know Christ at all? Has church become a place where Christians meet, like a club or something? We should be bringing in the lost - the despised, the lonely, brokenhearted, the hopeless. But, (to quote a friend) we might have to get "dirty" to do that. There are people out there whose sins we might not want to be around. We might not want other people (other Christians) seeing us associated with THOSE sinners. You know - the ones whose sins everyone knows about. And, we might literally get dirty. Not everyone is as well off as many of us are. What if someone came into our church and they weren't as clean as we might like? They might track dirt in on the carpet. What would we do then? Could we just love them? Or would we stare and whisper?

I read an article recently about a preacher who held a Bible Study in taverns. He said that if drinkers are afraid to visit God's house, he'll bring God to them, wherever that may be, even if it's at a bar. Now, I know that this concept is hard for many to accept - Bible Study in a BAR? The people there wouldn't even want to hear it, right? In my experience, people who hang out in bars are still just people. Really. Most of them have the same things going on in their lives as Christians do (some of them even ARE Christians - gasp). And, most importantly, they need God. But, for some reason the bar scene is more attractive to them than the church scene. I wonder why that is? Maybe because they feel that Christians will look down on them for the things they have done wrong? Maybe they don't feel accepted in a church? So, for this man to lovingly go to where THEY ARE to tell them about Jesus. Isn't that what Jesus did?

I know that my life is as filthy as anyone else's and Christ loves me.

So, here are the lyrics that say it all:

Audio Adrenaline - Dirty

Tired of being clean, sick of being proper
I wanna live among the beggars
And dig out in the dirt
Fed up with religion
And all the pious people talking
Wanna hang out with the homeless
And show them what they're worth

Sometimes we just need to get a little messy
The God I serve isn't always safe
Step outside the walls,
We build to protect us
Don't be afraid, get some mud on your face

Let's get dirty, let's get used
No matter where you come from
If you're beaten up or bruised
Let's get foolish, let's get free
Free to be the one thing
We were meant to be – Get dirty

You might get a bruise or some blisters on your fingers
You might start a question, and wonder what it’s worth
You may slip and fall from the burdens that you carry
But you can’t have this treasure,
till you dig it from the dirt